The largest collection of imperial Russian treasures, taken out after the revolution, is located in the Hillwood Museum in Washington, D.C., USA. The Russian revolution provided an opportunity to completely plunder the country, including the treasures of the tsars, nobility, church, and merchants. Vases, brooches, rings, autographed postcards, icons, family portraits, tea sets, as well as gold, diamonds, and Fabergé Easter eggs, all became the spoils of insatiable greed. These "trophies" can be seen today in the Hillwood Museum, named after Marjorie Merriweather Post, located under the capital of the USA. Its collection includes the family jewels of the Romanov dynasty, Fabergé Easter eggs, Russian icons, and paintings. The National Gallery in Washington is also full of masterpieces by great masters, purchased for a pittance from the young Soviet government.

American businessman Armand Hammer was one of those who successfully exported Russian treasures. In his honor, an international business center was built in Moscow. In the book "Money for the Revolution," E.F. Sikorsky writes that Armand Hammer exported Russian treasures by train and steamboat. From the Hermitage and other museums, 5,000 priceless paintings by great artists such as Rembrandt, Titian, Raphael, and others went across the ocean.

Sikorsky also mentions that in the home of the late President Roosevelt, there is an altar from the Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and in California, a private collection holds the royal gates gifted by Catherine the Great to the Kiev Cathedral of St. Sophia. These gates, weighing one and a half tons of pure silver, were gilded.

The main part of the Hillwood Museum's collection was acquired and exported by Marjorie Merriweather Post in 1937-38. For the Stalinist leadership, selling royal treasures to an American millionaire had two important goals, economic and political. In the 1930s, the USSR was actively industrializing, requiring the purchase of American and European machinery and technology, as well as hiring foreign engineers, selling antique porcelain, icons, and silver for dollars.

Joseph Davis, a friend of U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, provided the ambassador's wife with unique access to closed museum storage, which effectively "bought" the favor of the American diplomat. Davis sent to Washington exclusively loyal reports and later wrote a pro-Soviet book, "Mission to Moscow."

Soviet officials, knowing Marjorie's passion for Russian art, gifted her status gifts. Among them were two huge porcelain vases from the Sheremetev Palace. She also regularly received rare pre-revolutionary porcelain as "tokens of respect."

Marjorie, mastering the rules of soft diplomacy, hosted lavish receptions at the ambassador's residence to win over the Soviet elite. In response to Russian antiquities, she gifted Soviet officials and their wives expensive American porcelain, exquisite glassware, and rare Western delicacies.

Marjorie Post's collection was vast, including about 60 porcelain sets, church utensils, and icons. The process of evacuating these treasures in 1938 was a model of logistics. A detailed description was made for each item, and with the consent of the Soviet government, official export permits were issued for all artifacts. The Davis-Post fully paid the state duty in currency set by Soviet customs.

Transportation was carried out as "personal property of the diplomatic mission," items were packed in wooden boxes under the supervision of embassy staff. According to international laws, such cargo had full immunity: it was prohibited to inspect, detain, or open it at the border. The treasures left the USSR by train under diplomatic seals, reached a European port, and then were shipped to the USA.